Eskimo Town nestled under the lea of a jagged rockstrewn hillside. This was to escape the winds as much as possible. But there is no nook nor cranny in these northern latitudes where the biting wind will not penetrate in certain times of the year. The Eskimo huts called igloos were partly buried by the drifting snow since they were built partially underground. These facts helped to keep them warm.
When the thermometer creeps down to fifty and sixty below zero and finally refuses to register the cold, there is need of every possible protection.
The Eskimo Village contained only about a score of igloos and perhaps two hundred souls. This was about twenty families, for the Eskimo has many children.
The frames of these strange houses were made of drift wood or trunks of small trees, filled in with sod and dirt. The whole was finally covered with a thick layer of sods. The front door of the igloo was a very strange one, consisting of an underground tunnel perhaps fifty feet in length. This is to keep out the wind and the cold. The dogs sleep in the tunnel during very cold nights so it is usually rather filthy, but that does not trouble an Eskimo. Dirt and vermin are his usual daily companions. The chief thing with him is to keep warm.
There was much excitement on this dark cold winter morning in Eskimo town. Men might be seen running about from igloo to igloo. Occasionally they stopped and pointed to the north and cried, "Omingmong," excitedly. This is the Eskimo name for the musk ox. A musk ox hunting party was to set out that morning and many of the men and women were going to see them off.
In the igloo of Eiseeyou there was much excitement. But excitement probably ran higher in other igloos, for Eiseeyou's family was a small one and he was a young man. But he was a great hunter although still in his twenties. When he was thirty-five, he would have a family of ten children like the other older men, if he was lucky.
In Eiseeyou's igloo his kooner (wife) was bustling about laying out his clothing and selecting some of the best meat for the journey. This consisted of walrus meat and hide—the latter so tough that a white man never could have chewed it, also reindeer meat and a couple of eider ducks left over from the cache of last summer. There must also be a generous supply of dried fish for the dog teams.
On this morning Eiseeyou dressed even more warmly than usual. His garments were made of skins; bear, reindeer, wolverine, and seal skin being the favorites.
First Eiseeyou donned two auk-skin shirts. These shirts were close-fitting. Over that he put his parka made of reindeer skin and lined with a fine warm fur. Then he pulled on some reindeer skin pants, also lined, and lastly his famous reindeer boots. These were as soft and pliable as though they had been oiled that very morning.
Finally Eiseeyou slipped on a heavy pair of reindeer skin gloves and he was dressed and ready for the trip as far as warm furs could make him. His rifle, his hunting knife, his matches, and all such things that he might need on the hunt were carefully inspected.
Outside the igloo eight half starved Eskimo dogs were fighting and snarling over their dried fish. They were but one generation removed from the wolf and wolfish in looks and disposition. The Eskimo drives them relentlessly with his short-handled whip, on which is a long black sinister lash. This lash is often inadequate to express his displeasure, so he sometimes gets off the sledge, called a Komatik, and clubs a dog to death with the bone handle of his whip. Life in this wild, fierce country matches the clime, so it is often very brutal.
Although the snow blew and the wind howled outside, yet inside the igloo it was fairly warm. The body heat of Eiseeyou's little family together with the heat of the nanuk or stone lamp tempered the Arctic cold.
The young hunter ate ravenously on this cold morning. He must have much raw meat inside him to keep out the cold. So he devoured over three pounds before he was satisfied. This he occasionally seasoned with seal oil, which is the Eskimos' only salt and pepper.
Little Oumauk, a boy of three, watched these preparations with eager black eyes. Even at that age he had begun to dream of the day when he might also be a hunter.
His sister, who was only ten months old, was sleeping peacefully in her queer little reindeer pouch or pocket, which looked like a large watch pocket. It was resting against the wall and also on the sleeping bench.
Finally when Eiseeyou was ready, he crawled with his rifle through the long tunnel to the outside world. The dogs had finished their fish and were leaping and whining, eager to be off. They had sensed the long hard trip and were as eager as the men. Eiseeyou dragged out his Komatik. It was long and narrow, perhaps fourteen feet long and two and a half feet wide. The runners flared out slightly so that they would not skid. This sledge was Eskimo-made and a wonderful piece of work. Not a nail or a screw had been used in its construction. The cross pieces were lashed to the runners by means of thongs. These thongs were as tough as steel.
The Eskimo dog team is harnessed quite differently from that of the white man. The white man's team travels tandem, each dog behind his fellow and all strung out in a long line. The Eskimo's team is fan-shaped, and each dog has his separate set of traces running back to the sledge.
The dogs were so eager that Eiseeyou experienced some difficulty in harnessing, but soon other men came running to help and the team was made ready. His weapons and supplies were firmly lashed to the sledge. Then two other teams came creaking up to Eiseeyou's igloo. These sledges were also drawn by eager, yelping, straining dogs, their eyes gleaming like wolves'. Often they showed their fangs and snapped savagely at each other. Then the long black lash would come hissing about their faces and they would subside.
At last everything was in readiness. Nearly half the inhabitants of Eskimo Town were there to see them off. The three sledges led the way to the top of the hill, the drivers restraining their teams with difficulty that those on foot might be at the top of the hill to see them off. Finally the crest was reached. Here the wind and the cold smote them like a scourge from the very pole, but they did not mind. The waiting men and women huddled together for warmth while the sledges made the start. Then the drivers unloosed their ugly whips and cried, "Hoo, hoo!" which means mush, and the straining teams sprang into their traces. The Komatiks creaked and groaned, and the ghostly little caravan passed rapidly down the hillside and over the frozen barrens. Faster and faster they went. Eagerly the inhabitants of Eskimo Town strained after them until finally the snow hid them from sight. Then they went quickly back to their warm igloos to wait for the return of the hunting party.
It was that same old story of the women, the old men, and the children, waiting for the return of the hunter or the fisherman. The head of the house gone upon a hard and dangerous expedition to wrest a meagre living from the treasury of Mother Nature. Many cold dark days would pass before they saw the three komatiks and the brave hunters again.